Internal-combustion engine ignition system



Patented July 27, 1.954

ATENT GF-FICE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE IGNITION SYSTEM John F. Deacon,Newport, R. I.

Application December 12, 1951, Serial No. 261,300

This invention relates to starting devices of internal combustionengines, and in particular a method and means of increasing the sparkintensity of an ignition system of an internal combustion engine whenstarting the engine and during the comparatively short time intervalwhen the starter button is held inwardly or the starter switch closedand in which the circuit that provides the increased spark intensity isinstantly broken when the engine starts to operate.

One of the main objects of this invention is to prevent damage to theelectrical components of the ignition system by making it impossible tohave an increased spark condition at anytime the increased sparkcondition is not needed.

The purpose of this invention is to eliminate the strain on a motorvehicle battery and also the inconvenience of waiting for an engine tostart by providing an auxiliary circuit from a coil of the engine whichprovides increased spark intensity in starting the engine.

With the conventional type of motor vehicle engine ignition system thepull of the starter motor on the battery circuit causes reduced voltagewith correspondingly reduced spark and when the motor does not startimmediately the continued drain on the battery continues to reduce thespark. This condition is accentuated in cold weather where the thick oilcauses the motor to rotate at a slower speed. With this thought in mindthis invention contemplates an additional or auxiliary primary coil onthe magnetic core of the coil of the ignition system and meansconnecting the auxiliary primary coil in the system whereby the circuitis closed therethrough when the starter switch is held closed and thiscircuit is broken as soon as the starter switch is opened. By this meansthe increased spark intensity is applied only during the starting periodof the motor and is released instantly when the motor takes hold or whenthe starter button is released.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide means forincorporating an auxiliary primary coil in the coil of a motor vehicleignition system whereby increased spark intensity is provided in thestarting period and is instantly withdrawn at the termination of saidstarting period.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for incorporating acoil for increasing the intensity of the spark of a motor vehicle engineignition system that may be incorporated in ignition systems now in use.

Another important object of this invention is 1 Claim. (Cl. 12S-179) 2to provide an ignition system in which the increased spark conditionexists during the period the starter motor is in operation, and isexactly limited to this time only.

A further object of the invention is tok provide an improved ignitionsystem for motor vehicle engines that provides increased spark intensityfor starting the engine, which is of a simple and economicalconstruction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the inventionembodies an internal combustion engine ignition system in which the coilis provided with a core having a secondary winding and a plurality ofprimary windings and whereby one of said primary windings is connectedin the system with a circuit whereby the said primary winding providesincreased spark intensity when the starter switch is in the closedposition.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawings wherein:

The drawing illustrates a typical ignition system circuit in which theparts are diagrammatically shown.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denotecorresponding parts the improved internal combustion engine ignitionsystem of this invention includes a coil having a transformer core l0with a secondary winding I I on the core, with the conventional primarywinding I2 also on the core, and with an auxiliary primary winding I3 onthe core and connected to the starter motor with wires I4 and I5 and tothe ignition switch with wires I6 and I'I.

The primary winding I2 is connected by a wire I8 to a battery I9 at oneend and the opposite end is connected by a wire 20 to the ignitionswitch through the wire I1.

The starter switch 2| is connected across the Wires I5 and I 8 by wires22 and 23 and the opposite terminal of the starter motor 24 is connectedby a wire 25 to a wire 26 which extends from one terminal of the batteryI9 to a spark plug, as indicated by the numeral 21. The oppositeterminal of the spark plug 21 is connected by a wire 28 to the secondarywinding II of the coil and the opposite terminal of the secondarywinding II is connected by a wire 29 to the wire 26 extended from thebattery with a wire 32 connecting the wire 29 to the timer switch 33,the timer switch being connected to the ignition switch through a wire34.

A capacitor or condenser 30 is connected in parallel to the timer switch33 by Wires 29 and 32 on one side and wire 35 on the other.

With the parts arranged in this manner, the closing of the starterswitch 2l instantly closes a circuit to the auxiliary primary winding I3and this circuit is completed only as long as the starter switch remainsclosed. With the primary winding coupled to the spark plugs through thesecondary winding l I by electro-magnetic induction in a manner to addto the strength ci primary winding i2 increased spark intensity isprovided which facilitates starting the engine during the period whilethe starterbu-tton is re tained in the closed position.

It will be understood that although only one spark plug is shown, thecircuit may be extended to include as many spark plugs as may bedesired.

It will also be understood that modications may be made in the designand arrangement of the parts Without departing from the spirit of f theinvention.

What is claimed is:

An internal combustion engine ignition system, comprising a startermotor, a transformer core having a primary winding, a secondary windingand an auxiliary Winding therearound, one end of said secondary windingconnected to a spark plug system, the other end of said spark plugsystem being connected to said starter motor and to one end of a directcurrent source, the other end of said secondary winding being connectedto one end of a capacitor and to a terminal of a timer switch and alsoto the connection between the spark plug system and the direct currentsource, one end of said primary winding and one end of said auxiliaryWinding being vconnected together and to one contact of an ignitionswitch, the other end of said ignition switch being connected to theother end of said capacitor and to said timer switch, the other end ofsaid auxiliary coil being connected to one side of a starter switch andalso to the other side of said starter` motor, the' other end of saidprimary winding being connected to the other side of said starter switchand also to the other side of said direct current source.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,475,184 Hawkins Nov. 27, 1923 2,037,059 Beltz Apr. 14, 19362,090,365 Harris Aug. 17, 1937 2,159,968 Fitzsirnmons May 30, 1930

